Fear of Death
by Rowanesque
Summary: Is worse than death itself. Conan truly believed that, now more so than ever. But, somehow, he figured Akai never meant it so literally. Now if only he could figure out some way to make that damnable Paranoia stop. Or, at the very least, get her to leave him alone.


Edogawa Conan, Mouri Ran and Mouri Kogoro were out walking one evening. It wasn't a particularly rare occurrence, per say, but it was novel enough that there were a few heads turned now and then.

The three of them were jabbing (mostly) good naturedly about the merits of watching Pop Idol shows well past respectable hours before the smallest of the group paused momentarily, taking note of a young and frail looking woman who was looking between a wallet and nearby street signs. He dashed ahead slightly and pulled on her jacket's hem to get her attention.

"Hey, neesan, are you lost?" The woman jolted slightly, before focusing on the boy.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure, brat. Uh, I'm just a little turned around, I think." She smiled a bit, though it turned out more like a grimace. It was obvious that she rather disliked children.

"Huh? But, how come neesan's looking for the address on someone else's driver's license?" Conan's childish tone was turned up full blast, and the slight brunette frowned.

"Why do you think I'm looking at someone else's driver's license?" She glared at the boy.

"Eh—W-well, that's—"

"Conan-kun!" admonished Ran as she pulled the not-child away from the intimidating figure. "I am so sorry about Conan, he loves playing detective."

The glare melted into dull amusement as the woman looked to the teenager. "Ah, is that what it is," she let out a dry chuckle. "Hm, no, you're fine, the kid here just wanted to make sure I wasn't lost, is all." She paused for a scant moment, "Actually, could you tell me how to get to this address?" She flipped the wallet around to show a driver's license of a man. "I ran into this guy earlier today, and we accidentally switched wallets."

"Eh? Do you know this guy, neesan? He's kind of old..." Conan remarked in a saccharine tone.

"And, _what_ , brat, is _that_ supposed to mean?" the woman snarled. "And, no, I've never met him."

Ran pulled the not-child away and peered at the address in the wallet. "Oh, yeah, that's quite close, actually. If you want, I could show you," the dark-haired girl offered. The somewhat bipolar woman blinked, and then smiled.

"Yeah, that'd be great actually, thanks." Ran nodded, and ran towards her father, who was still lagging behind.

"Come on dad, hurry up!" She called as she dragged the detective towards Conan and the unknown woman. He looked quite put out, but the brunette's eyes lit up in recognition.

"Ohh, aren't you that detective guy?" she gasped, snapping a few times in remembrance. The older adult puffed up as his ego got a small boost.

"Yes, I am the famous detective, Mouri Kogoro, at your service, young lady." He struck a fancy pose, but was largely ignored as—

"I'm Mouri Ran, his daughter, and this is Edogawa Conan; we're taking care of him for the time being." The woman nodded, completely shutting out Kogoro's antics as she focused on the younger two.

"It's nice to meet you. Oh, I probably should have introduced myself earlier, I'm Saike Mayumi, a musician." The now named Mayumi greeted.

"Likewise, Saike-san." Ran replied whilst Conan nodded.

"So, what is it you needed, exactly?" asked Mouri, visibly put out over the lack of attention.

"Oh, not much, I just need some help returning this wallet." The musician held out the item and question and waved it around a bit. "I got a little lost trying to find the owner's address. And, you know, now that it's almost eight, I'd like to hurry."

"Is that so? Well then, leave it to me, Mouri Kogoro. I know the entirety of Beika city with near perfect accuracy!" He struck a cool pose as he launched into another monologue, but again—

"You're really close to that address, Mayumi-neesan; I'm actually surprised that you got lost!" Conan quipped as he scanned the wallet he snatched from the woman's fingers.

"Hey, don't be rude, brat. Also, gimme that." She snarled at the boy, the image drastically contrasting with her figure, before snapping the wallet back. The brat in question blinked at the hostile behavior, before shying away from her persistent glare.

"Ah, Conan-kun, it's not polite to take things from people!" Ran scolded, looking apologetically at the brunette. "I am very sorry, Saike-san."

"Ah, ah, no. It's no trouble. I just have no patience for kids." Mayumi shook her hand dismissively, smiling blandly at the teen.

"Hah, I can tell, thanks," muttered the shrunken detective as he turned away from the females.

"Eh? What was that, brat?" snapped the incredibly bipolar woman at the not-child.

"N-nothing!" He yelped.

"So, so, Ran-san, can we get to my address now?" She laughed towards the younger woman.

"Why am I getting ignored..." bemoaned the mistaken meitantei as he lingered at the corner of the block.

The trio rounded the final corner en route to Mayumi's address some time later, and the woman in question was quick to profess her gratitude and pull ahead. "Thank you very much, Ran-san," she expertly wasted no time as she glared at the not-child and turned to ring the bell.

' _Oi, oi._ ' Deadpanned Conan to himself as he stared at the woman's back. ' _Is it even physically possible to hate children that much?'_

"Hm? How odd…" he heard from the woman up ahead, who was staring at the house, which had nearly all of its lights on.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Mayumi-san?" Ran asked, she and her charge coming up behind the musician.

"Ah, this guy is definitely here, but nobody's coming to answer the door," she replied turning to see her entourage. "Mr. Matsushita! Mr. Matsushita!" The oldest female bit her lip as there was no response for several minutes. "Mr. Matsushita, I'm going to come in!" She rattled the doorknob. Evidently locked. Conan flicked his eyes up at the second floor, where there was only one room with the lights off. Something was off about the whole situation.

"Ran-neesan—" Conan was about to get Ran to kick it in, but he needn't have worried. The almost emaciated she-devil kneed into the door with considerable strength, forming a neat hole through the material. The two stared at Mayumi, who seemed rather out of it, taunting the door quite viciously.

"U-uh, M-Mayumi-neesan?" She turned to face the boy, looking quite different. She held herself more confidently, and had a confused smile on her face, rather than the condescending sneer that she bore when looking at him in the past.

"Wha—? Oh! Yes, right of course—Mayumi; that person I definitely am—" the enigmatic young woman jolted and looked around dazedly before focusing on Conan again. ' _Ah? Just like when I first tried talking to her. Curious..._ '

"Brat, it's rude to stare." She growled at the not-child and looked up to Ran. "Not you, too. What's wrong, is there something on my face?" She rolled her eyes and turned to the door, strangely enough, poised to knock once more. "Ah—oh. That's what's wrong. _Goddammit. Scout, I swear..._ " The last part was muttered under her breath—and in English, oddly enough—but it wasn't quite quiet enough for the smallest member of the group not to hear it. _'Scout? What does that mean? And why English? Not to mention her erratic behavior. And her reaction to the door...'_ The oldest female faced her little entourage once more. "Haha… you see, I do martial arts. It's…Jeet Kune Do? Well, thanks for getting me here. Um, since I can get in, now… you can go. Feel free to leave." She grimaced slightly, likely at the overall sound of her dismissal. There was slight protestation from the female of the group, but they headed off post-haste, the older man trailing after them once he realized they were leaving. Conan lingered just long enough to see her go inside and gingerly shut the door.

The Mouris and their freeloader were barely a half-block away before they heard a blood-curdling scream.

* * *

Conan was the first to react; whipping around and bolting back to the house. His caretakers were not far behind. Dashing through the ruined entryway and up a flight of stairs (the shriek came from above them, after all), the heisei Holmes found their new acquaintance staring shell-shocked into a room, having slid down the opposite wall.

"Mayumi-san!" called Ran as she and her father bounded up the stairs.

"Mayumi-neesan, what's wrong!?" shouted a frantic Conan, who was shaking the despondent woman's shoulder desperately.

"I-I-In there!" She raised a shaking arm to point into the room. Conan and the elder Mouri ran to the door and pushed it the rest of the way open. They stopped dead in their tracks, though, when they saw exactly what had the woman so spooked.

There, splayed out on a cluttered desk was a man, and if Conan knew _anything_ , it was that that man was dead. ' _Oi, oi. You'd really think I'd be used to this by now.'_

"Oji-san!" barked the small boy. Quickly, the man darted forward and began examining the cadaver. After a few moments, he stepped back, and shook his head. "Ran! Call the police!" The teen girl was quick to comply, hurrying to a corner.

The response time was bound to be quick, Conan figured, given how close to the police station they were. He likely had about five minutes until they got there, a startlingly short amount of time, really. He glanced at the woman that was the reason they came there. ' _Can she have…'_ The not-child shook his head. ' _Too early to say.'_ He wandered into the crime scene and looked over the body. ' _Given the marks around the victim's neck, cause of death is likely strangulation,'_ he mused, doing his best to see without disturbing the body. He looked over the desk and noticed something odd. ' _That's a wallet he's pointing to,'_ the detective realized, and glanced at the musician in the hall again, recalling the story of switched wallets. ' _No, if she had murdered him, wouldn't she have taken her wallet? Or maybe it's diversion? She said she had no connection with the victim… is that true?'_ He was going to attempt to find a different possible cause of death, when a strong hand picked him up.

"What are you doing, brat? You always do this around crime scenes!" Conan chuckled weakly at the man, before noticing something else.

"Ne, oji-san, the lights are off." The Sleeping Kogoro looked a bit miffed at the non-sequiter, but saw the boy was right.

"So? Maybe he was napping. Furthermore, you shouldn't be near the crime scene! You'll ruin something!" ' _Geh, stupid old man.'_ Then the supposedly brilliant man tossed the kid out the door. Where he landed on his face. With his ears closer to the bottom floor, the not-child was just able to hear a sharp gasp, and the ruined doorway creaking open. ' _That's not the police…'_ He picked himself up.

"Ran-neesan, there's someone here. I think they think they're being robbed." The addressed teen looked up from where she was comforting the shocked musician.

"I'll go down and explain." She promised, before hurrying down the stairs, leaving Conan to decide whether to inspect the newcomer, or to question their escort. Deciding that the trip down the stairs wouldn't be worth the effort, he slowly approached the brunette.

"Ne, Mayumi-neesan, are you alright?" He didn't start straight in with the hard stuff, since she was either in shock, or an extraordinarily good actor. He wasn't going to risk that.

"..." ' _No response, damn_.'

"...Mayumi-neesan?" She blinked a few times, and looked at him.

"Mm. I'm sorry, I just..." She waved vaguely at the room, where the corpse was clearly visible. The shrunken teen nodded.

"It's a shame that this happened tonight, of all nights. Someone might find you suspicious." Blunt, but that was best, right? The woman next to him gasped. Not a scandalized gasp, as he normally got for implying such things, but a worried gasp. A scared gasp. ' _Odd.'_

All three occupants of the upper floor jumped as a wail rose up from the entryway. A moment after that, a young woman bolted up the stairs and into the office. She was clearly distressed, and was struggling against Kogoro, who was attempting to keep her from the scene.

"Father! FATHER!" She screeched upon seeing the body. She was his daughter then.

"Miss! Miss, please calm down!" shouted Mouri, to be heard above her wails.

"Calm down? Calm down!? My father is _dead_! When did this happen!? Who did this!?" She shrieked in apparent anguish, causing Mouri to let go and clap his hands over his ears. Conan winced as she ran up to the body and began shaking it. She would totally ruin the evidence if she kept on like that. Still though, he paused to consider the situation at hand. There were two main suspects, both of whom were rather suspicious. Certainly, the daughter had more of a connection to the victim, and thus likely had more of a motive—but he couldn't stop thinking about Mayumi and her erratic behavior and mood swings. He turned to the musician in question and examined her closely. She looked stricken with shock and fear, which wasn't strange. He had nothing to go on.

"P-Para—!" She gasped sharply—and quietly, almost inaudibly— and Conan redoubled his focus on her.

He just couldn't shake the feeling that something bigger was going on.

* * *

 **A/N: Well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well...will wonders never cease! Look who has posted a thing on the internet! Someone you've never heard of, that's who! In all seriousness, this is my fanfiction debut, my way of striking out into the world, and it's been a long time coming.**

 **Gotta admit, this chapter was a bit of a beast. I didn't like her. I didn't like her, I couldn't stand her! I couldn't stand her, I wouldn't have her! I never knew her! But now—wait, probably none of you have any clue as to what the hell I'm referencing. Oh well.**

 **But now I do! And I could! And I would! And I know...that this exists now. Leave a review if you are so inclined—they're the best form of sustenance after the souls of virgins.**

* * *

 _she loves me, and to my amazement; I love it—knowing that she loves me. She loves me, true she doesn't show it. How could she, when she doesn't know it! Yesterday, she..._


End file.
